Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has launched a scathing attack on State House, demanding the immediate settlement of Sh16 billion in pending bills inherited from the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services or face a total legal blockade.

The ultimatum highlights a deepening rift between City Hall and the national government, exposing the financial paralysis crippling Kenya’s capital as suppliers face auctioneers while political elites trade accusations over fiscal responsibility. This confrontation is not merely about accounting; it is a battle for the soul of devolution in Nairobi, questioning whether the national government is sabotaging the county it once sought to rescue.

The Ghost of NMS Haunts City Hall

The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), once heralded as the silver bullet for the city’s dysfunction, has left behind a toxic legacy of debt that threatens to bankrupt the current administration. Senator Sifuna’s outburst comes days after a cooperation agreement was signed between Governor Johnson Sakaja and the national government, a deal Sifuna views as a "backdoor return" of the NMS model. He argues that before any new partnerships are forged, the accounts of the old one must be balanced.

At the heart of the dispute is a staggering Sh16 billion owed to contractors and suppliers who delivered services under the NMS regime. These are not faceless corporations but local road pavers, garbage collectors, and medical suppliers who have been left destitute. "State House Comptroller was the accounting officer of NMS," Sifuna thundered at a press briefing in the Senate. "You cannot walk away from these debts and expect the county government to carry the cross. Pay what you owe before you sign new deals."

• The Legal Threat: Sifuna has threatened to move to court to quash the new Ruto-Sakaja deal if the Treasury does not commit to clearing the NMS pending bills within 30 days.
• The Human Cost: Representatives of the unpaid contractors have reported cases of depression, bankruptcy, and asset seizures among their members, who have been waiting for payment since 2022.
• The Constitutional Question: The Senator argues that transferring county functions without transferring the requisite resources—or in this case, clearing liabilities—is a violation of the Public Finance Management Act.

A Crisis of Confidence

The friction reveals a crisis of confidence between the elected leadership of Nairobi and the Executive. Governor Sakaja finds himself in a precarious position, caught between the need for national government support and the political necessity of asserting his autonomy. While the Governor has championed the new cooperation deal as a pragmatic step to unlock development, his Senator views it as a surrender of the city’s sovereignty.

Critics point out that the national government has a history of delaying disbursements to counties, and the NMS debt is just the tip of the iceberg. The total pending bills for Nairobi County are estimated to be over Sh100 billion, a figure that makes any meaningful development budget illusory. By focusing on the NMS portion, Sifuna is strategically targeting the President’s office, placing the blame squarely at the feet of the administration that oversaw the entity's dissolution.

"We are not asking for charity," Sifuna added, his tone visibly agitated. "We are asking for justice for the people of Nairobi who paid taxes and received services, and for the business people who did the work. If State House cannot manage its own debts, it has no business lecturing counties on financial discipline." As the deadline looms, all eyes are on the Treasury, with the threat of a legal showdown promising to keep the political temperature in the capital at a boiling point.